Are You Becoming Foolish or Wise?

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Fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7b, ESV).

After church, you follow the time-honored American tradition of going to lunch. And this Sunday, you eat with two friends.  

Bringing up a controversial topic, one of your friends listens, and the other reacts, one asks questions, and the other pontificates, saying, “You can’t be a Christian and believe that,” and “I know I’m right; I watched this podcast.” Two differing reactions, one of wisdom and the other foolish.

Have you noticed that some still have the same opinions they’ve held for decades, just louder? They stopped asking questions because they already knew the answers. While others seem more flexible (not that they don’t defend their ideas), they remain calm, discerning, listen, and want to learn.

As we age, we become more foolish or wise, and the choice is ours.

The Book of James makes a connection between distress/trials and wisdom. We read, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials, because the testing of your faith produces endurance … If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:2-5).

Psychologists talk about “distress tolerance,” referring to a person’s ability to withstand negative emotional or physical states, appreciating a “joy” in trials, knowing that ultimately, they will learn and things will work out. Those with high distress tolerance glean wisdom from difficulties, while those with low distress tolerance avoid the growing and go straight to the arguments.

Rigid thinking isn’t caused by age (a sort of hardening of the arteries of opinions), and wisdom is gained by reacting cautiously and admitting the difficulty of the situation — it’s the Biblical principle of endurance. 

Again, age isn’t the cause, but our choices. Reacting destroys the very process by which we gain wisdom.

We build habits of wisdom or foolishness over a lifetime. Wisdom displays patience in conflict and in unclear situations. Foolishness seeks to run away (avoidance) while hurling darts of defensive anger and narrow-mindedness. A recent study revealed that facing difficulties in wisdom requires less emotional wherewithal than facing them in foolishness. Those who hold dumb ideas keep defending their positions, as one researcher concludes, “The older you get, the more energy it takes to maintain the illusion that you are never wrong.”  

Have you noticed the postings that foolish people place on Facebook®, the rigid podcasts they promote under the guise of “research,” and their threatening tone toward disagreement? However, the person spending a lifetime trusting God in unpredictable situations doesn’t need to defend or keep up the walls of their opinions — they listen, develop faith and love, and God is their defense.

No matter where you/we are on the foolishness/wisdom scale, we can change and build wisdom by building awareness, asking others to hold us accountable, and seeking God’s peace in our spirit.

I love discussing ideas with “wise” people, even if I disagree with them, and I dislike conversations with “fools,” even if I’m theologically aligned with them. I’m not suggesting compromise; I dislike casting pearls before swine, but I enjoy speaking the truth in love. The wisdom found, even in intellectually stretching discourse, presents an opportunity to hone my ideas about the Bible, God, and faith.

Perhaps I am wrong, even in this blog, but I prefer a conversation over lunch after church, not a mindless blast on social media — a lunch that you pay for!